Picture taken from the bus stop I was waiting at. The structure with the curved roof is the bigger bus stop.

Since arriving here, I’ve heard a lot of stories about International Students getting beaten up or mugged or both. At times I was skeptical when I was told about stories like this, but I believed it, most of the time. We can’t deny that word of mouth is sometimes sensationalized.

On Thursday nights, shops all over Newcastle will open longer than usual. This is to give students as well as other people the chance to do some late night shopping or simply hang around. Last Thursday night, Bill, Jen, and myself were at the bus stop waiting for Bill’s bus to come. It was half past eight and we were at a bus stop waiting for Bill’s bus to arrive. We talked for a bit, and realized that we were supposed to wait at the smaller bus stop facing the larger one. We crossed the road and walked towards the bus stop. There were only the three of us at the bus stop, while a rather large crowd (mostly Asians – International students of the Uni) have gathered waiting for the University bus to take them back to their dorms. I saw this guy in a black shirt and white pants walking quickly around the bus stop, I didn’t notice him before, so I guess he must have just arrived when I notice him. He was speaking loudly to a group of three male students. Soon after, he started counting, and started punching the guys, I was appalled. The guys ran and left their things there, a fourth guy came and asked what was going on and the white guy started punching him as well. Even though there were four guys over there, the white guy was clearly larger than them. It also happened too fast that I think everyone panicked. People started walking, no, running away. Soon, the bus stop was empty. My friends and I ran too. We ran towards the trees behind the bus stop. As sudden as the bloke appeared, he made his quick escape with a car. He sped away, never to be seen again.

I was totally freaked out. I’ve never seen anything like that before. We decided to walk back to my house because it was already pass the time the bus should’ve arrived. The next one would come about at 9:43 pm. At half past nine, Bill and I went to the bus stop closer to my house. Jen had already gone back. We were there, waiting for the bus to come and I was praying hard so no one would mug us. From the corner of my eye I saw a shadow quickly moving towards us. My eyes took in the light and focused in the darkness. I saw an Aussie teenager riding his push-scooter, or whatever those things are called. He rode pass us, and was about to make a turn when a red toyota suddenly pulled up in front of him. This happened about 10 meters away from us. Four guys came out and started shoving the scooter guy around, one of them took his scooter and started smashing it on the road. I watched in disbelief as Bill quickly took my arm and both of us started running. As we ran, we saw headlights ahead of us, the 226 Bus which Bill was to take had stop at a bus stop about 100 meters ahead of us. Both of us ran to the road and started waving. Thankfully the driver saw us. He waited until Bill got there. I said my goodbyes and ran back home.

In Australia, these people are called Bogons. A month ago there was a survey conducted to see which town had the most Bogons, I didn’t check to see if Jesmond or Newcastle had a hihg population of bogons. Since I didn’t grow up with Bogon in my vocabulary, I’d rather think of these people as Ungrateful Inglorious Bastards who are intoxicated almost the whole time they forget that the WE THE INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS ARE PUMPING IN SO MUCH MONEY SO THAT THEY COULD HAVE A CHEAP/FREE EDUCATION. If they are so uninterested in Education, the government might as well lower our tuition fees. As far as I can recall, I didn’t pay to come here to be harassed.

I lightly toasted the bread, put cheese, lettuce, and chili sauce (because I like to spice up stuff) over the egg+mayonnaise spread

Cut them eggs like there's no tomorrow

Dua Biji Telur

Tom to Bottop: Pictures arranged counter clockwise. Now I'm sitting with my classmate Jen and her buddy Bill in the Flower's Reading Room, and the rest are the pictures of the process of me preparing my brunch.

I've noticed that I've been skipping breakfast and having big lunches instead. Good or not? We'll find out.

Today the sky was littered with little puffy clouds which seem to bounce about in the air currents that were blowing dry leaves all over the yard. Spring is here!

I went to a Christian group meeting, called the Student Life group, and we talked about prayer. It was a really good experience as I haven't had any worships during school since graduating from college. Looking forward to the next meeting next Tuesday. :)

which is today. I was limping around the house and crawled up stairs at University – this is what happens when non sports enthusiasts run around crazily in a game of touch rugby. Putting the pain into perspective, I think I should consider jogging rather than confine myself to the exercise rope and push ups I do in the room.

Why was I playing touch rugby yesterday – there was a church picnic. I’ve never played rugby before, except for that one time in our Customs and Culture of the English Speaking World class a few years ago. I think I’d stick to the game of tag and hide and seek that I played while growing up… and maybe badminton.

(Warning: the following sentence has Australian colloquial) “Some pictures of me mates at the barbie yesterday, totally had fun with all of yous!!”

Yesterday I wore a pair of pants I haven’t worn since May. I found out that they now fit snugly around my waist. I wish I had more pants like that. I’m tired of having pants that fall of your arse every time you strut your stuff.

I wonder why it took me several days before posting up anything with regards to my birthday. I’m guessing the effects of aging is getting to me. Oleh itu, gunalah Olay Total Effects to slow [cheat] the signs of aging.

After church last Sabbath, I thought I’d had a barbeque at home. It was a spur of the moment thing as I wasn’t planning to do anything for my birthday. My housemate and I found an empty paint can at the backyard and turned that into a stove, and I went to Woolies to buy chicken wings, marinade, and a cooling tray (to put over the stove). We barbequed till midnight. That’s all.

I landed my first real job at the age of 22; moved to another country at the age of 22; broke up again at the age of 22; played less piano at the age of 22. Those are by far the most significant things that have happened last year when I was younger. Now that I’m older I wonder what 23 will have in store for me.

These are what I got for my birthday

Hello Hydration by Herbal Essences, both shampoo and conditioner

“Jackal” by ZU –Kasut panjang ala-ala wicked witch of the west

My friends bought me a bowl of Laksa the day after my Birthday at school.

Today. Just the thinking about the spelling of “today” makes me wince and squirm. I’m supposed to be at the Treehouse Room right now, helping my boss lure volunteers into the meetings he’s conducting. I had to actually drag myself there, and I dragged myself back home to get my phone. On my way back, I thought to myself, “Man, you’d walk all the way back just to get your phone.” Once, my friend, Nicholas Kirchberg, told me that he wished that humanity wouldn’t be slaves to technology. I’m a slave, no not for you, but for my phone. It’s my time keeper. I don’t have a watch so I always check my phone for the time.

Time. Last week we were talking in our semantics class how we measure time. Time is very abstract, we can’t see it, but we measure it with the movements of objects, such as the sun or the moon. We also perceive time in a spatial way. If I asked you to measure “lots of time” with both your hands, what would you do? You’d definitely set them far apart from each other, and vice versa if you were to measure “little time” with your hands. Not knowing what time it is, to me, is like free falling through the sky. You’re out of control. You fall and fall. You become subject to the force of gravity.

I need my time.

Okay, I’m done with my babbling about time. This evening, I’ll be meeting a certain lecturer who is in charge of my research. Hmmm, last week’s meeting didn’t go quite well because I answered his questions with imaginary numbers that my mouth blurted out. Man, speaking nonsense is so fluid. You don’t need waste electrons in your brain, per se.

Well, this evening. I will be more prepared, I hope. I’ll meet the lecturer with a demeanor that only my alter-ego can do:

Pasta with lots of cheese; Butter-grilled sandwiches with cheese and corned-beef fillings :)

OMG DID IT SNOW?!?!? …. it’s just soap suds…. there was a big party on campus last Friday. Students were running around with their boxers, drunk, pissing in the bushes, and giving everyone else high fives. It’s quite interesting though because even with the ruckus going on, the campus was still quite clean… just look at the fountain, someone wanted to clean the fountain and emptied a whole box of detergent… hehe

I was in this singing group called “Barefooters.” The group’s meager beginnings started off in 2006. We did a couple of songs for church, sang for our very own group member’s wedding. We sang because all of us had a passion for music. Besides that, all of us liked each other’s company. Members left and new singers joined us. Soon enough, we started bringing food to practices. The munching and talking afterwards were always the highlights of our practices. The bond that we have built through the many days spent together was the force that actually helped us sing better. There’s nothing else better than doing something you enjoy for someone you adore with the people whose company you cherish, people whose barefootedness won’t cause you any awkwardness… someone whom you would go barefoot with.

These days, I’ve got the church band to fellowship with. It’s different. But it is very similar to what the experiences I’ve had with my Barefooter singers. After every band practice, we would gather in a circle, and have a sharing session, which we will wrap up with prayer.

No other group could ever give me what the Barefooters had to share. I really miss the friendship and the time spent together. On the other hand, I’m very grateful that I’ve got these new friends here in Newcastle.